That is a very interesting post and you raise good questions, Jordan!

This sounds like a good discussion book for farmers.  Plowman's Folly is a similar book that has been discussed over the years.

I have been concerned about erosion since I was a child.  I think that one observation led me to no-till and cover crops but they are not perfect either.  I really question whether the world's arable land is sustainable.

We have camped in the 48 states and Canadian provinces and studied agriculture in Alaska and Hawaii and 38 countries, not been to Africa or South America.  I think erosion is serious.  I think we have had to address it with some success but no till on flat land still washes where I live.  There is a lot of silt through all our water system and each bushel has some cost in it just to keep the channels open and move the grain.

Tenant farming was an honored position where I came from and you treated the land like you owned it.  I've seen places that aren't that way and most land in free countries are farmed by someone who doesn't own it.

"The degradation of soil is painfully obvious."

Ed